Newcastle rejected an offer for Cabaye last month and the France midfielder, who was left out of the side while a transfer remained a possibility, returned for the victory over Fulham which preceded the international break.

Cabaye's lack of match action saw him omitted by his country for their World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Belarus and, according to Pardew, he has spent the past 10 days getting in shape for this weekend's trip to Aston Villa.

"Yohan Cabaye stayed behind and has had a full week here," Newcastle's manager told the Chronicle. "He's been able to get a lot of work done. His wife has just had a baby too.

"Yohan has just got on with his work and settled down. He's getting on with the job in hand. He's been terrific and he's just got his head down to get on with life."

Also in line for a more prominent role against Villa is striker Loic Remy who, like his compatriot Cabaye, came off the bench against Fulham.